Hesitation
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: Rustyrose considers Meredy's offer to join Crime Sorciere, only to have his musings interrupted. Armada project: 48/365


**I really like this ship's aesthetic. They're both so extra it would be amazing, and their ship name is fun. Rose Sky, or Sky Rose, or Rusty Sky, all are excellent options...**

 **Also with this, I'm finally caught up on the old armada fics... So no more dumping for a while, lol.**

 **I hope you enjoy the ficlet!**

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He was uneasy, looking at the camp in the distance.

There was nothing unusual about it; just a couple tents, a firepit, and a few people milling about working. It wasn't as if any of them could see him from his position up the hill. Well… one of them was probably well aware of his presence but had seen fit to ignore him for the time being. For which he was mildly grateful.

Eventually, he would have to work up his courage to go down there, he reminded himself. Take up Meredy's offer to come with them, when he felt he was ready.

Rustyrose just didn't quite feel like he was ready, is all.

But he couldn't keep living with ghosts, with illusions of his friends as company. Zancrow and Azuma weren't really by his side anymore, no matter how much he wished they could be. They couldn't ever be real company. The call of the real people below was strong – pulling at him like a magnet. He wanted to be with them like he'd never wanted anything before.

"What are you doing up here? Spying on us?"

The cool voice behind him sent alarm coursing through his veins. He twisted around, looking up into the frigid gaze of the white-haired woman from the guild he'd been observing. She'd been Oracion Seis, long ago. A Celestial Wizard, then. An Angel-user, chipping away at her life force with every summon, now. Such a self-destructive magic wouldn't have been allowed in Grimoire Heart – Hades, though having rejected most of Fairy Tail's teachings, had still considered them all his children. Lost magics had their drawbacks, and horrible consequences should certain rules be broken, but at their heart they had never been outright parasitic to their wielders. And that's what Angel magic was – a parasite, possessing humans and eating them slowly from within until there was nothing left for the host to give.

It was a terrifying, abominable magic to take up, and it left Rustyrose wondering just what sort of person would do so willingly.

"Are you going to answer me or not?" she snapped, her arms crossed across her chest and her foot tapping impatiently against the ground.

Rustyrose remained silent, unable to formulate a response.

She sighed when it became apparent that he wouldn't answer her. "Look," she said, uncrossing her arms and scratching her head. "If you're just going to follow us everywhere, you may as well do it with us. Meredy vouched for you, and honestly… it's not like we have any right to judge anyone looking for a second chance. Now, are you? Looking for a second chance I mean."

He nodded hesitantly. It was a difficult thing to voice aloud, the words dying in his throat before they could fully formulate on his tongue. It was embarrassing, in so many ways. Downright humiliating, actually. To want redemption, a second chance, meant acknowledging that what he'd been doing before was wrong, that everything he was up to this point had been wrong.

But it seemed that this woman understood, even without him having to say it.

He picked himself off the ground, and followed when she spun on her heel and marched off.

Meredy, when she saw him again, cried with happiness. The guild master greeted him warmly as well, and the mind reader stared into his eyes long and hard before giving him a firm nod of approval.

The woman who'd led him there stood behind the others, her gaze as haughty as before. But there was something else in her stance, a lack of tension despite the defensive posture she once again assumed. Her expression wasn't one that Rustyrose could place, even with his vast imagination. But he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it wasn't unkind.

While he was there, maybe someday he'd understand the reason she chose such a horrendous magic for herself.

He was looking forward to it.


End file.
